Understanding Love
by Chopper8367
Summary: A more realistic take to romance between Touma and Mikoto, based on my own love life. Now, due to that, there could be a tad bit OoC, but I'll try hard to separate the story from my life experiences. Please review so I can get better. Thanks much everybody! Rated T for suggested themes to come in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey everybody, Thanks for being so patient, I know I have been away for quite some time. I had a girlfriend for the past few months, 5 months, and what is today? the 25th of july as I write, so that means 5 Months, and 12 Days. She broke up with me rather recently, as in about 12 hours ago. I am kind of doing this to help me get by, selfish, huh? Many of the things in here will be based on our relationship, with changes, probably to the ending too. I like happy endings, cliche, but hey, they're still fun, better than what I dealt with, anyway. I hope those of you out there have better luck than I, I hope the next girl will be able to understand love. I should look for a foreign girl like my dad did. Anyhoo... uh, this is a story of my favorite (and hopefully eventually canon) couple, Kamikoto, thanks much. Oh, also, this could be seen as a separate, alternate storyline from Happy Ending, please keep that in mind. Who knows, if it ties in, Sweet! Thanks for listening internet._

* * *

Understanding Love

'Hey, are you busy? I need someone to talk to.' That's what Touma's SMS said at first.

"Nononono, that seems too weird, maybe 'a friend to talk to.' yeah, that sounds better." muttered Touma to himself in his room before correcting his text message.

'No, I'm completely free, we're on the drive back right now, so there's plenty of time. What's up?' The message from Mikoto came back almost instantly, the girl had been messaging him during her entire trip with her family. Mikoto's mom didn't care, she actually thought it was good of her daughter to finally be opening up to a boy, her father didn't care, but not on the same basis, he was buried in his work as ever.

'Ah, sweet, nothing much. It's just nice to be hearing from somebody, most of my friends are vacationing, too.' Touma responded just as fast. He was beginning to realize how fun of a girl Mikoto was to talk with, They had been talking for the duration of her trip, just about the little things, like how each other were doing, or how the trip was.

'Haha, you enjoy hearing from me now?' Questioned Mikoto.

"Well, of course, I love talking with such a well refined lady.' Retorted Touma.

There was a slight pause, due to Mikoto reading the word "love" and reactionarily blushing. 'Ah, hey! You're being sarcastic, aren't you?"

Touma picked up on the short pause in the texts, even as minute as it was, time to play off of it some more. 'Well, I don't know, what do you think? ;-)' He even put in a smiley face, Motoharu said that women lov- wait, why does that matter to him?

'Yes. :-|' Mikoto responded so fast that before Touma could put away his phone her message had already arrived.

OK, that backfired... Wait a second, she sent a smiley back! Motoharu and Pierce were talking about this. Maybe she's interested after all!  
'How do you feel about dating someone?' Touma instinctively hit the send button. Wait. "I HIT THE SEND BUTTON! OH CRAP, OH CRAP! IS THERE A CANCEL BUTTON? WHAT DID I JUST DO?" He started to yell aloud.

On the other end, the freakout wasn't as outward, but it was there just as much. Mikoto let out a little peep in astonishment of what the text message said. Her mother heard the peep and looked at her in the side rear view mirror and smiled silently. Mikoto looked through her phone frantically, could she find someone who could help? Ruiko? Kazari? No, they're too young, Kongou? No, she went to take a nap shortly before. 'Oh god, I'll have to wing it!' she thought.

'Uh, yes.' That was the best she could come up with. She hit send without even remembering the question in his text.

His phone rumbled silently on the bed, his ringer didn't function anymore, most likely due to his frequent run-ins with a girl who is a hyper powered conduit. He loathed at what she was going to say, "Knowing her personality, it would be something like, 'I'm going to find you and kill you' or 'My friend Shirai would not like to hear that.' Oh god, here we go"... Touma clicked the button, not sure what to expect.

"Huh?" He read the answer, but couldn't make any sense of it. "Wait, maybe she read my message as me asking her out. If that's the case, *gulp*. I'll have to find out now, I guess, before I hurt her feelings, and she annihilates me." That really was the dense boy's way of thinking.

Mikoto's eyes widened at the next message. ' Umm, Would you want to hang out with me?' Mikoto was full out blushing at this point. She typed slowly and precisely, as though her life depended on it.

'Sure. What time?' Her message said. That was it, confirmation. Touma didn't know how to react, he really expected a response like, "Why would I ever hang out with someone like yourself?" but instead he got this.

'Uh, maybe tomorrow? How do you feel about that? You pick where you want to go.' Touma asked.

'Yeah, sure, but this isn't a date or anything! .'

'Haha, of course.' Touma breathed a sigh of relief, she didn't want to kill him after all, and now they were going on a dat- uh, a not date. He was truly glad that he was a guy and let instinct run amok. But he's not interested in her or anything, right?

On the other end of the line, Mikoto was ecstatic, but hiding it well, she was still in the car after all. Now, it was still a long ride back to Academy City, so she had a while longer to talk with him. They talked for hours, at least 10. They talked about everything during her car trip back, their interests, their embarrassing moments, their faults, and had fun doing it. 'Maybe he is a really good gu... Ah, what are you saying Mikoto? Jeez.' Mikoto thought.

The next day came, and Mikoto frantically raced around her room. "Oh no, what should I wear, would he like this? Or maybe this?" Said the girl, now holding up two blouses.

"Oh-ho-ho, is my little girl finally having thoughts about a young man?" Asked Misuzu, who had walked in unannounced.

"EEP! Ah, no, I'm just going to hang out with a friend." Mikoto hastily responded.

"Ah, who is it ?" Furthered Misuzu's interrogation.

"Ok, fine, It's Touma, the one who you met at Daihaseisai. We're not going on a date or something of that nature."

"So, basically, what I've gathered from this is that you aren't a couple yet, but you are really hoping that something does." Says Mikoto's mother, keen on her daughter's true will.

"Ah, no, of course not! He's not even my kind of guy. Jeez, mom! Always jumping to conclusions." Mikoto tried to defend her outward feelings.

"Ok, ok. Tell me what happens, and the one on the left is better." Misuzu says, walking away, with a wink and a grin lining her face.

Mikoto looked down at the two blouses, remembering her earlier predicament.

She was now waiting at the corner where they usually "coincidentally" met up, it hadn't been terribly long before a certain spiky haired boy came running across, believing he was late. When he heard his name called from the girl to prevent him from running to the next part of town, he turned to see a very cutely dressed girl.

"Wow." That was the only thing on his mind. Wait, did that just come out of his mouth? Did he just drop the Wow Bomb? Jeez, why does she seem so attractive right now?

Mikoto had not noticed Touma say wow, she was rather preoccupied by the fact that she was essentially on a date with a boy. Not that that was what she wanted or anything. Now, she remembered that she had to decide where they would go. Maybe the mall? No, that seems like something a couple might do later, plus there's a chance that someone like Kuroko might show up. Ah! Maybe the Park, yeah, quiet, relaxing, away from the people they know. Good.

"Come on, I just figured out where we should go." Explained Mikoto, tugging at his hand.

"Just figured out? Oh, jeez." Touma didn't know how to react to these kind of things, his experiences with girls usually involves saving them or being nearly killed by them, this girl being both cases.

They stopped at a quiet outset in the middle of a park. Touma recognized this park, it's actually rather close to his house, he used to walk there as a kid, and just enjoy the place. Touma was lost in his mind, and hadn't realized that Mikoto let go of his hand, and had already climbed to a branch a little bit up from where he was standing.

"Hey, what are you doing up there?" He asked the young girl above him. The sun was lined up right behind her, it was a sight to behold. Ah, um, that's what someone who would be in a relationship or something would say.

"Ah, nothing much, just enjoying the view, why don't you come up?" She said with a smile, offering her hand. Touma smiled back. Mikoto felt like there was the biggest drum in existence beating away in her chest, and she didn't know why.

"Hey, I didn't heed it earlier..." Touma quietly said, leaning in, placing his hand on hers. Mikoto was not sure what was going on. She wanted something romantic to happen, but not so quickly. She mentally braced for impact. Touma continued, "but you never really answered my question from last night. Well, you answered, but in a way that didn't clarify anything."

Mikoto held her mouth open, she had no control over doing that, it was just a natural fear reaction. Snapping back to reality, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, and checked the message. She chuckled to herself, seeing how silly her answer really was.

"Umm, well I'm not really sure how good of a girlfriend I would be. I am not sure I understand love." Mikoto finally answered the question.

Touma's will to help kicked in, and he felt the overwhelming need to put his arm around her. At that moment, Touma realized it was futile to resist it, this girl was just too perfect. He was in love. "Well then, I'll help you."

"Wait, wait, wait. What are you saying, Touma?" That was the first time that she said his name, it was a neat feeling.

"Ah, well, this is my first time asking a girl this, so bear with me. Would you be my girlfriend? Ah, jeez, that seems too direct, Maybe I should have sai-" Touma rambled on, but Mikoto put her finger on his lips.

"Haha, I get it, I get it." She paused and looked down for a bit, glanced a bit into his eyes, and looked away again before continuing, "Umm, I'm not sure, just give me a bit to think about this, okay?" She said with a smile on her face, now looking at him.

"Ah, yeah, sure." Touma smiled, but it was rather obviously burdened, he thought her saying that was the kiss of death. He felt something nuzzle up against the front of his shoulder. It was Mikoto, she had the single most relaxed smile he had ever seen. Her eyes were closed as she nudged in tighter, in response, Touma pulled her in even tighter.

'I love this feeling.' Was the mutual thought.

Before they knew it, seconds became minutes, and minutes became hours. They stayed out until the sun was beginning to set. Mikoto looked up at him, and Touma looked down at her.

For Touma, time was close to a standstill, 'Is the moment perfect? Should I try for... for, a... kiss?' was all that was running through his mind.

In Mikoto's mind, everything was a blur. She was so occupied with the feeling of being so close to someone.

Touma tested the waters, he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. The blush on her cheek became so apparent. She put her arm around his back. The spiky haired boy kept placing kisses on her cheek, but took a short pause for no particular reason. He looked out at the park, where he had been enjoying the past few hours with this wonderful girl. Then, something special, he felt the kiss returned on his cheek. He looked to the source, who was blushing furiously. He smiled, and her blush only kept on going, and her face became a cute combination of happy and pouty.

"Ah! It's not like I'm in love with you or anything!" She said, turning away. She felt a comfortable pair of arms slip around her abdomen.

"That might only be one of us now." Touma replied, with a lovestruck face on. Mikoto leaned out to the side and looked at him, she didn't know how to react anymore, tsundere overload took over and she froze, but deep down inside, she enjoyed being there, in a romantic situation with him.

"Hu-" Mikoto began to question what Touma was saying, but was cut off by his next action. A full out kiss on the lips. His eyes were closed, but hers were wide open, and she was in a blissful state of shock. She never predicted being held by Touma, let alone being kissed on the lips. It was both of their first kisses, and it felt like it lasted hours, which if they didn't have to go home at some point, might have actually happened.

"Hey, Touma?" She began to speak as she leaned back into his chest, leaning both of them against the trunk of the tree.

"Yes? What is it?" Touma furthered.

"After being here with you like this, it made me realize..."

Touma instantly thought of the worst possible outcome, considering his luck. He expected to hear that she hated him for doing that.

"I can't live without this feeling, When you asked me to be your, umm... to your earlier question, yes, I happily accept."

Touma's heart slowed back down to a regular rate after being on such high alert. He placed his head on her shoulder and kissed her on the neck, and worked his way up until just under the ear, at which point he whispered, "I love you." gently into her ear.

She whispered back, "I know." before leaning back a bit to fit in another kiss on his cheek again. There was no way she was quite ready to lead a full kiss, in fact, now that she thought about it, how did she work up the courage to do even that?

Touma looked over her shoulder to his arm, and checked the time, they had been there for 4 hours and about 30 minutes.

" I guess we should get out of this tree, huh? It's pretty late." He said, chuckling afterwards.

She looked down at the arm around her waist and saw the time, too.

" Ah, yeah, it got pretty late, didn't it?"

" Yup, that's why I said it. " said Touma with a silly smile.

Mikoto lifted her finger to his nose and let out a small shock, akin to touching a doorknob after walking on a carpet. "Shut up." That was the Mikoto he knew.

They hopped out of the tree and began the short walk home. Even though she insisted otherwise, Touma walked her home, his actions being guided by his sense of justice.

Stopping in front of the entry to her dorms, Touma was about to speak, but Mikoto spoke first.

"Touma, it will be hard for you to be my boyfri- um, for us. I still don't know what love is, and I'm not sure I'll ever know."

He held on to her tighter than ever. "Mikoto, it's okay, we'll figure out together, I'm still not exactly sure what it means to me, either."

"Ok. When do you want to hang out next?" She smiled.

"Whenever you're available." He smiled back at her. Touma leaned in and kissed her for the last time for that night. Mikoto looked up for a little bit and caught a glimpse of someone's twintails returning inside the window.

"I'll be seeing you, Good night!" Touma said, walking away.

"Ah, good night!" Mikoto said, entering the building.

Although their locations were different, the thought was the same, both of them were replaying the memories of the day. Mikoto lay on her side, comfortable in her bed, smiling. Touma walked home, his smile masked by the scarf he wore to fend off the chilly October weather.

* * *

_Hey everybody who made it this far. Thanks so much for reading. Expect a few more chapters to come up somewhat quickly. Also, if the characters are a tad off, I'm sorry. I'm trying a bit to graft my experiences onto other characters, so chances are pretty good that will happen. I'll try harder next time, I'm still in a bit of disarray. And sorry, I guess this is kind of how I am dealing with the breakup, I Hope all of you enjoyed! Keep reading if it didn't end up too bad. Thanks, you guys are the best._


	2. Chapter 2

_Oh, wow, thanks for all of the readers, I was surprised at the amount of support this story has already seen! Thank you once again! It's really nice to see so many readers in such a short time. In the time of a day, this story has gotten more different readers than my last story has in it's entire time! It feels really great to have so much support. Also, thanks to the reviewers, it's nice to know that people care, people who I have never met (To my knowledge anyway). It's just so heartwarming to see that (Some faith in humanity restored). Also, did a few of last story's readers catch a few of the references to Happy Ending? Anyway, back to the story, that's what you guys really care about._

* * *

_Chapter 2_

_They were holding hands, under a nice sunset, Mikoto leaned in, trying to recreate the perfect feeling of their first night together. It worked, Touma's left hand maintained a firm, yet loving grip on her right hand. His right arm snaked behind her back and rested on her right side. God, as much as she didn't want to admit it, she felt as though she was in heaven. They looked each other in the eyes and pressed their lips together, which, as embarrassing as it is for her still, she could no longer live without it. After a while, Touma gently pulled her down, and they were laying in the grass together, and Touma rolled over on top of her, pinning her hands above her head._

"No, Touma, we can't yet." mumbled Mikoto, coming out of an until then decent dream.

Suddenly, a shrill shriek sounded and snapped Mikoto out of her grogginess. Being pinned wasn't just a dream.

"AH! ONEE-SAMA! I DIDN'T WANT TO BELIEVE IT! IT SEEMS IT'S TRUE!" It was Shirai, who was yelling in a state of complete disbelief

In an attempt to diffuse the situation, Mikoto began to speak a bit more quietly and collected. "Kuroko, what's the matter? Are you okay?"

"OF COURSE I'M NOT OKAY! YOU'RE GOING OUT WITH THAT APE, AREN'T YOU!" Kuroko was in no way, shape, or form diffused.

"What? Ho-" Mikoto didn't have enough time to give a proper response.

"DON'T LIE! YOU WERE DREAMING ABOUT HIM, WEREN'T YOU! I HEARD YOU UTTER HIS NAME IN YOUR SLEEP! AND... AND!"

"And?" Mikoto wasn't sure if she wanted to hear this, she was already thoroughly creeped out.

"And... Last night, you defiled your lips on his... His! His heathen lips!" It was Shirai who peeked out at them kissing after all.

Mikoto couldn't take any of this anymore, she pushed Shirai off of her, this was too much. On her way out to the door, it flew open. This could only mean one thing. Hell was approaching. The Dorm Manager.

Mikoto took a step back, but was hit square in the abdomen, and sent flying back. She was being ignored for now, the new target had become the young girl with twintails. Shirai was now being lifted by her throat.

"Be quiet! It is too early in the morning for this nonsense." The Dorm Manager reprimanded the girl sternly.

With a sound like her neck had cracked, Shirai was cast aside, dropping like a rag doll. As the woman approached Mikoto, all she figured was that she was next on the chopping block. Mikoto felt two hands land on her shoulders and braced for the worst. She felt terrible that she couldn't spend more than a night as girlfriend to Touma. The Dorm Manager began to speak.

"Next time, make sure you don't kiss in front of the camera. Also, that young man is not allowed in here. However, congratulations. Be careful." The Dorm Manager's talk was not at all what Mikoto expected. She patted Mikoto on the shoulder as she left the room and said nothing else. Mikoto stood up and dusted herself off.

Now outside of the building, Mikoto pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent a message to her boyfriend. 'You told me to send you a text whenever I'm available. So here I am =) '

Ping! The response came back rather quickly. 'Ah, Sweet. Do you want to come over? I've got to take care of the cat while Index is out with Hyouka.'

Mikoto promptly agreed, received directions to his house and went about her way.

Hearing two swift knocks, the spiky haired boy stood up and answered the door. There she was again, a young woman whose beauty he just realized. Even wearing a simple white hoodie and a light pink skirt, she was just amazing.

"Do I have something in my hair?" She asked, snapping Touma back into reality.

"Ah, no, just distracted by something." He hastily made an excuse, and it showed.

"Sure... sure." Mikoto played off of his stumble.

"Ah, well, come in, this is my home in all of it's glory, I suppose." He pointed with an open palm.

"Haha, it's quaint. I like it." She took her shoes off just after entering the door. Touma, being a gentleman closed the door behind her. Then it struck her, 'I'm in a boy's house, and it's just us.' Sphynx poked his head around the corner right at the moment. 'Okay, we're the only humans here.' Mikoto started to blush, not much, but it was evident. She looked up at Touma, who was also blushing, she wasn't the only one.

"Hehe, you embarrassed, Mikoto?" He playfully asked.

"Ah! No! Besides, you're blushing, too!" She took it a bit less playfully.

"Well, this is the first time I've had a girl come over for the sole purpose of a date." He explained as he scratched the back of his head.

"Ah, I see." So they really were in the same boat.

"Um, what do you want to do?" Touma inquired.

"I don't know. What do couples usually do?" Neither of them knew terribly much about dating and what couples should do, except what they had overheard from friends.

"How about we watch a movie?" Although it was a cliché idea, it was still viable, and they didn't know what else to do. "Ah, here's a good one, it's an American pop culture hit.

They sat on his bed, eating microwave popcorn sitting to the right of them. She was firmly planted in his lap and already burying her head just below his.

The movie had been playing for a while, and the build up to a sex scene came on, and everything got awkward.

"So, um... How are you Mikoto?" Touma tried to recover from the awkward moment.

"Ah, good, I suppose." She replied.

After a little bit, the scene ended up playing out to lead to nothing. Touma was relieved. "Oh, thank God that's over with."

"Yeah..." Mikoto agreed, but chuckled, it was a pretty funny turn of events, both in the movie and between them.

More scenes in the movie passed, even though it was one of his favorite movies, he wasn't paying attention, there was a beautiful girl right there, after all.

"Hey, you know what? We haven't kissed yet today." Touma pointed out.

Mikoto looked up at him. "Ya don't say."

Touma took advantage of her looking up and kissed her while looking down, which made for an upside down kiss, which was a neat feeling for them. They broke apart and just smiled at each other.

"You punched me in the boob!" The movie yelled. Both of their heads snapped to. It was pretty funny, especially to Mikoto, who threw herself back in laughter. This knocked Touma down, and his hand which was once around her abdomen was now under her chest. He withdrew it as fast as he could.

Mikoto rolled over and off of Touma, and he became worried. This was not a good sign, did he piss her off?

Her head finally turned to face him, and she was laughing, hard. "Haha! Now **You've **punched me in the boob!" Touma was confused beyond all belief, this was not like her. Maybe humor keeps her calm.

"Uh, haha, I guess I did." He wasn't sure if there was a right response to give.

"God, anytime else, and I probably would have decked you." Mikoto told, with a slightly creepy smile on her face.

OK, good, that was the Mikoto he knew. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Mikoto had punched him, and was wearing a particularly silly face.

"Now I got you back, and we're even."

"I love you..." Touma wheezed. He pulled himself closer to her and kissed her.

Mikoto became entranced by the spell that's called romance. "Hah~" she breathed out between kisses.

The movie kept playing in the background, but it wasn't important now. Before long, the movie was at it's end, and even the credits rolled through. The menu must have replayed a good 40 times. They didn't care, they were too obsessed with being there for each other.

* * *

Elsewhere in the town, Shirai was talking with Saten and Kazari over a cup of coffee at Joseph's. She was rather worried, not having seen Mikoto since the morning.

"So, you think that Mikoto is spending her free time with a boy, Kuroko?" Kazari asked.

"Ugh... It's almost certainty. I don't want to think about her with anyone else, especially that ape." Kuroko answered.

"Ah! Who is it! Who is it!" Inquired Ruiko.

"A beast by the name of Kamijou Touma, Uiharu, pull up a background check on him, he's probably no good." Replied Shirai, who was getting even more angry.

"Roger!" Playfully confirmed Kazari, pulling her laptop out.

A few minutes pass, and the search is completed. "Uh, he's completely clean, just a student with nothing important on his record. It even says he's a level 0."

"He's a Level 0? Mikoto always complained about never defeating him!" Kuroko was confused. "Why would she be interested in such a weakling?"

"Maybe, just maybe she sees him as her knight in shining armor!" said Ruiko as she stood up excitedly.

"Ah, that would be just wonderful! I wish I could find someone like that!" Uiharu followed, with equal excitement.

"Stop glorifying him, you two!" Kuroko was angry that her friends could side with him. She took her phone out and began to write a text message to Mikoto.

'Hey, where are you?" The message sent.

* * *

Back at Touma's place, the romance was still carrying on, they were just holding each other and kissing, although Mikoto was now laying down on Touma. Touma felt a buzzing on his leg, which pulled them out of paradise.

"It seems that the movie is over." Mikoto stated.

"What movie?" Touma playfully said, although his statement was somewhat truthful, he hadn't been paying much attention to the movie. "Also, what was that buzzing? Tsuchimikado told me every girl had one, but I didn't think even a pure-hearted maiden like you would have one." Touma added.

"Ah, Jeez!" She knocked him on the head. "It's nothing like that, you dummy! I got a text message. It's from Kuroko,"

"Oh... Her." Touma was not enthused.

"Yeah, What do you think I should tell her? She'd flip out if she knew I was with you." Mikoto asked.

"Huh, maybe tell her you're with your friends." Touma suggested.

"Yeah, that's actually smart. Thanks." Mikoto was pleased with his suggestion. Now, who would she tell Kuroko she was with? "I got it."

* * *

'Don't worry about me, Kuroko, I'm hanging out with Saten and Uiharu! I'll be back later tonight!' Read the message. Kuroko repeated it aloud.

"Ooh! I can't believe it! It is a boy!" Kazari exclaimed.

"Kuroko, why do you have a problem with him? He doesn't seem all that bad, he's decent looking, has a clean record, and apparently is a good fighter." Ruiko questioned, scanning over his record.

"BUT MIKOTO IS MINE!" Kuroko was furious.

The other two girls stared at Shirai in a bit of confusion mixed with disgust. Going off of her experience of reading a few romance manga here and there, Ruiko stepped up. "But Kuroko, you want her to be happy, right? Then you should let her be with him, a relationship only functions if both people are interested, and she's interested in this Touma."

Damn it, it all made too much sense, but still, she wanted to be with Mikoto as well... Shirai just didn't know anymore. What Ruiko said was true, she just didn't want to believe it.

"..." Shirai could not think of anything to say to that.

"I'm glad you understand." Ruiko said thankfully.

* * *

A few hours had passed, and the night had drawn it's cover. The still fresh couple were still holding each other. It was such a precious feeling to them. At some point, the movie was switched off and the TV was set to some local channel, it was really unimportant, Touma and Mikoto were too focused on each other. Alas, the time for Mikoto to return to her dorms had arrived.

"Uh, I guess we have to be getting you home now, don't we?" Touma asked sheepishly.

"But I don't want to." Mikoto pretended to pout, but meant it, she was having an amazing time.

"Neither do I, but I don't think you want to get too much on the nerves of that dorm manager you were telling me about." Touma shuddered upon completing that sentence.

"Yeah, I suppose that's true." Mikoto admitted.

"Also, I don't think you usually hang out with your two friends for this long usually." Touma added.

"Alright, alright, I get it. Jeez." She was blushing, he was worried about her, and not just for something that was life or death.

Touma walked up and put both of his hands just below her ears and kissed her. "I don't want you to leave, either."

"I can tell." Mikoto said with a smile, Touma smiled back.

The walk back was rather uneventful for the first few minutes, but the October weather was cold at this point in the night.

Mikoto linked arms with Touma, her hoodie was plenty warm during the day, but the cold was biting at her. "I'm doing this because it's cold." she explained, rather poorly. Touma chuckled, she was a tsundere for some things still, although her deredere side was really starting to show.

"Well, we're here..." said Mikoto, obviously not looking forward to splitting ways for the night.

"You say that like we're not going to see each other again, we'll have another date soon enough, trust me." Touma's smile was very hopeful.

Mikoto couldn't help but smile back.

"Although, I will take a last kiss for the night." requested Touma.

"Yeah, of course, but let's go over there, I got a stern talking to when we kissed under the door, there's a camera there." explained Mikoto.

"Haha, I'm sorry."

Touma embraced Mikoto fully, and their heads came together for a kiss.

"Hmm, could I get one for the way home?" Touma inquired, and Mikoto obliged.

"And maybe one for the memories?"

"Oh, one because I love you."

"How about a nice solid one so I remember the feeling?"

"I don't know why for this one." Touma kept going, and Mikoto kissed him every time.

"Okay, okay, I thought you wanted **one** last kiss for the night." Mikoto pointed out.

"I lied." Touma had the dorkiest smile on his face, but Mikoto knew he was her dork.

"You big doof. I should actually be going in now, though." Mikoto mock teased Touma.

"Yeah, I understand." He said, walking her to the door again.

She let herself in and waved goodbye, not wanting to cause too much of a ruckus for the other dorm mates. Touma waved back and began to depart. He was having the best time of his life.

* * *

_So, that's chapter 2, everybody. Mikoto's really starting to warm up to Touma, but she will still obviously have tsundere tendencies every now and again, but when she's in private with Touma, it's their own little world. I'm really glad for everybody who's turning up to read this story of mine, thanks again so much. It makes me feel really wanted, or otherwise good, many thanks to fuji92, who read my last work, and sprung to this one, also, I'm really glad there's a fellow Ace Combat and TAMnI fan out there, I thought I was a rare breed, but AC5 is my favorite (indicated by Chopper in my username). As with last story, if someone wants to make a doujin out of this, and can make money off of it, more power to you! Happy Reading!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Argh, sorry everybody! I got Persona 3 FES again and that has been the majority of my day, and I have neglected you guys! Also, I'm uploading my comic that I drew for my physics class in High School, I dislike my art style in the beginning, and it sucks less later. There's also a few inside jokes that the majority of people might not understand, but rest assured, there's plenty of humor for the masses in there, too. Google 'My Ordinary Life in Physics Class' if your interest is piqued. I've got about 40 something more to upload, and I have a few others from a different offshoot that I might publish. Enough about the comics, let's get crackin'!_

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Mikoto was walking home alone today, Touma and his friends needed to help with club activities. It was an oddly silent walk home, she had already gotten used to walking with Touma, sharing laughs and conversation about the most random of things, but no matter what, the conversations were always great. The snow seemed to crunch louder than usual today, each step sounded like a stack of plates crashing to the ground. Was life always this boring without someone there beside you? The silence was finally broken by the tone of Mikoto's phone. She lit up with joy.

'Hey, do you want to hang out somewhere and talk?' The text message stated.

'Yes! Jesus, it's so quiet right now, I need to hear something!' Mikoto replied as fast as her fingers would go in the yet colder late October weather.

'Okay! meet me at Joseph's, Saten and Uiharu are here, too. See you in a bit, Onee-sama!' Mikoto had only now realized that the sender of the past two messages was Shirai. Most of her texts came from Touma, so she naturally expected the text to be from him. She had been kind of neglecting her original group of friends to be with her boyfriend of just over a week now, so maybe this will be nice.

Mikoto walked briskly through the light layer of snow that had begun to drop rather early this year. She walked into Joseph's and scanned the horizon for Kazari's very unique headdress. There they were, in a booth, not too far from their usual spot. Mikoto walked towards them, gracefully waving.

"Hey Mikoto, how are you?" Ruiko tried to begin the conversation normally.

"Ooh! Does this Mr. Kamijou have a particular style or something like that which got you guys together, or did he reach for the same drink, or how did you meet?" Kazari excitedly spewed out.

"A-ha-ha-ha... Uh... How did you find out?" Mikoto asked, but she had a pretty clear guess that wore her hair in twin tails.

"Oh, well Kuroko-" Bingo, exactly who Mikoto thought of first. "told us about how she thought you two might have a relationship." Kazari rambled on and on.

"Uh, well, that's correct, I suppose, and we met through some rough circumstances, and I had no intention of dating him or anyone at the time-" Mikoto explained...

Until Kazari stepped in and fill in the blanks. "But then he swept you off your feet?"

"Not quite."

"Oh! Maybe he stepped in and saved your life?" Kazari attempted again.

"Not this time."

"He had a spare ticket to a concert and all his other friends couldn't go?"

"That's kind of sad, and no."

"Did he t-"Kazari was cut off by Ruiko.

"Uiharu, maybe you should just let her explain."

"Ah, yeah..." Kazari realized, kind of air-headed.

"Uh, Well, we didn't really have anything super special, we were just sitting next to each other on a low branch of a tree. Nice and simple, I suppose." Mikoto finally was able to explain.

"Kuroko, he doesn't sound like a bad guy at all. Why do you have such a problem?" Ruiko asked confusedly. Although she had seen Shirai act a little strange around Mikoto, she never assumed that Shirai had such strong feelings for Mikoto.

That statement from Ruiko was the last straw for Kuroko, having heard enough about that beast, she forcefully placed her hands down on the table and stormed out of the restaurant, the only audible mutterings from her being "Gorilla" "Idiot" and several more obscene terms.

Mikoto beckoned out to her in a moderately loud voice, not wanting to cause more of an uproar than they already have. With no response from Shirai, Mikoto tried to follow, but was stopped by Ruiko.

"Don't go right now, she's too angry, she won't listen to you for the time being. Let her cool down for a while." Ruiko explained her motion, with a clear hint of guilt, knowing that she was the one who pushed Shirai over the edge.

"Yeah, I hear you." Mikoto realized Ruiko was right. "So, what should we do in the meantime?"

"Um, I know it might be a bit much after all of that, but could you introduce him to us?" Uiharu nervously requested.

"I wouldn't have any problems with it, I'll have to see when he's done with club activities, but he should be by now. Do you have any qualms with it, Saten?" Mikoto asked, turning to Ruiko.

"I don't know, I feel a little bad, but at the same time, I really want to meet him, so why not?"

Mikoto flipped her cell phone open and sent a message to Touma.

* * *

Back at the high school, Touma knelt over one of many posters that were to adorn the hallways with advertisements for upcoming school events.

"God, this sucks so hard, why do we have to assemble all these stupid things while Fukiyose gets to sit on her ass at home?" Tsuchimikado complained loudly.

"Hell if I know." Touma shrugged his shoulder as he attached the next letter.

The short silence was broken by the relatively loud buzz of Touma's cell phone's vibration. Touma pulled the phone out of his pocket, and focused his gaze on the nearly finished poster near him. Looking back at his right hand, there was no longer anything clenched within it. Touma's eyes darted around everywhere before finding his cell phone in the hands of Tsuchimikado.

"Hey, Everybody! Check it out! Touma's got a text from a chick!" Tsuchimikado waved Touma's cell phone around proudly.

"What?"

"How can that be?"

"Show me, show me!" Voices from the random people around Touma were suddenly highly interested in his private life.

"Hey! You bastard, what are you doing!?" Touma flung his arms in a pitiful attempt to get his phone back.

"It says it's from a Miss Misaka Mikoto. That's a shame; you don't have her listed in your phone as some cutesy-wutesy name" Tsuchimikado commented, making kiss faces.

"Wait, that name sounds familiar."

"Isn't she one of the Level 5's?"

"The top heavy one, the crazy one, or the little one?"

"Why should I know? Talkin' at me like I know stuff."

"Well, anyway you cut it, it can't be her, those 5's probably view us 0's as sub-humans, It's probably just a coincidence."

Fending off Touma's flailing arms, Tsuchimikado was finally able to open the message up.

"Hey, do you want to meet up someplace? A few of my friends want to meet you." Tsuchimikado read aloud. "Wow, Touma, it's getting serious, she wants you to meet her friends!." He commented, lightly tossing Touma the cell back. "Well, my brothers, what do you think? Should we let him go to see his woman?" Tsuchimikado continued, now standing on top of a chair, in a heroic pose. "I say yes!" He exclaimed, pointing to the door.

The random members of Touma's class erupted in applause, giving Touma a standing ovation on his way out.

"You guys are all assholes." Touma mutttered while walking out.

'Where do you want to meet? I just got out of here.' Touma responded while putting his coat and muffler on.

The response arrived quickly. 'Why don't you just meet us here at Joseph's? We're all already here.'

'Okay, I should be there relatively quickly. I'll see you in a bit."

* * *

Back at Joseph's, Ruiko and Kazari were gleaming with excitement.

"He says he's on his way. Why are you guys so excited to meet him?" Asked Mikoto.

"Well, he's such an important part of your life already after such a short time." Ruiko answered.

"Yeah, plus, he's got to be a great person if you enjoy him, being a level 0." Followed Kazari.

"One, that doesn't matter, I mean you two are some of my best friends, only being a 0 and a 1, and two, How do you know that he's a level 0?" Mikoto asked, with a worried and confused expression on her face.

Kazari had kind of dropped the ball on that one. "Uhh... Alright, we're sorry, but Kuroko had us inspect him-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where's this 'we' stuff coming from? You were the one with the laptop, and I never had anything to do with the Judgment background check." Ruiko broke in the middle of Kazari's explanation.

"Wait, you guys ran a police background check on him?!" Mikoto was a little past creeped out.

Both Kazari and Ruiko held their hands above their heads and plead for forgiveness. "We're sorry, Mikoto!"

Suddenly, a ping, ping, ping came from the window next to them. Behind the glass stood a smiling, waving boy. On the window ".iH" was written in his breath.

Mikoto knew what he meant, but she playfully cocked her head and wrote back to him. "?Hi". She wrote in a way that she hoped would be evident that he had forgotten to flip the words around.

For the first few seconds, the mistake went over his head. He stood there, studying it. Then it dawned on him, and he lowered his face into his palm, chuckling at his error. He scribbled out the old message and exhaled on the glass again, correcting himself, before running briskly to the the front door of the restaurant.

"Haha, geez, what a dork." Mikoto said softly.

"Uh, hello, everybody, I'm Touma, and after making such a stupid mistake, am a nervous wreck. I hope you don't think to low of me." He said, scratching the back of his head while bowing it slightly.

"Haha, it's okay, we're all human" Ruiko reassured him.

"So, Mikoto, are you going to introduce me to your friends?" He asked, taking the vacant seat next to her.

"Well, of course. That's Saten Ruiko, and that's Uiharu Kazari." Both of the girls waved their hands a bit when Mikoto said their name.

"Um, so, I understand that you two wanted to meet me? Do you have any questions for me?" Touma inquired.

"When I was asking how you two started to date, I asked if you had swept in to save her, and she said, 'Not this time.' Does that mean you've saved her life?" Uiharu returned a question.

"Yes, I have." He replied rather quickly.

"Uwah! What happened?"

"Which time?"

"Multiple times!?"Uiharu stared in disbelief and Touma muttered and counted to himself, recalling all of the events. '_Just what exactly does Mikoto do? I know she's a target, being a level 5 and all, but still. Also, it seems to happen fairly frequently, and What kind of strength does he have, dealing with threats that a level 5 can't handle?' _

"I think I know, why she's got the hots for you, you must be strong, helping her all of the time." Ruiko said with a smirk on her face.

"Uh, not really..." He said, pointing to his non-existent bulging muscles.

"Then, maybe your unyielding charm and smooth moves?"

At that time, Touma noticed a 50 Yen coin laying on the ground next to the table, he reached to grab it, but had slipped out of his chair and managed to spill the coffee leftover from the previous guest of the next table before faceplanting. Coming up with a bloodied nose, a 50 Yen coin, and a sad expression, all he said was, "Such misfortune..."

Kazari and Ruiko's faces displayed nothing but shock, Mikoto on the other hand was laughing hard. Their expressions locked on her and they simultaneously thought, '_Abusive relationship?_'

"Ah, haha, at least it seems you're fairly resistant" Kazari said, laughing sheepishly, in hopes of making light of the situation.

"Yeah, but it's not like I have plot armor or anything." Touma said calmly, trying to play that last smooth move off, his hair still drenched from lukewarm coffee.

By this point, Ruiko was curious as to what his good points were. "Umm, so Mikoto, what do you like most about him?"

"Huh? Uh, well..." A blush was creeping along her cheeks. "You see, he hugs really well, I just feel safe like that." Her voice got quieter as the sentence drew on.

Uiharu felt arms wrap around her. "Do you feel safe in my embrace, Uiharu?" Asked Ruiko, in a play, lovey-dovey manner.

"I don't think it's quite the same." Kazari stated bluntly.

The group chatted for a while longer, and the two girls realized the high school boy's finer points. The two girls had to be at their homes in a short while, and they headed off on their own ways. The couple left for Mikoto's dorm.

"Hey, what about the other girl you usually hang out with? The one with the twin tails, where was she?" Touma inquired.

Mikoto exhaled a bit in a mix of disappointment and being bothered. "She stormed off, I'm pretty sure she doesn't like that you and I are dating."

"Ah, I see, I feel as though I should talk to her about this." Touma could tell this was really bothering Mikoto.

"But she'll rip you apart, Touma!" Mikoto warned.

"That's okay, it's not the first time I've been ripped apart for your sake." Touma said, with a confident, loving smile.

Mikoto pulled out her cell phone on Touma's request, and sent Shirai a message, asking her to come outside the dorm.

In two minute's time, Shirai was outside and saw the couple on the bench. "Great, did you come to rub it in my face, Mikoto?" Shirai was obviously in a sour mood, addressing Mikoto by her name.

"Kuroko, don't be like that. We knew that our relationship is bothering you, and Touma told me that he wants to talk to you about it." Mikoto explained.

"Oh, so the gorilla is capable of speech." Kuroko harshly responded.

"Okay, look, I'm terribly sorry you feel so negatively about this, but Mikoto and I being a couple is a fact, and at the end of the day, that will remain, I'm just trying to help make this easier for you." Touma made his intentions as clear as day.

"But I love her!" Kuroko yelled.

"That's the thing, so do I." Touma spoke softly.

Mikoto wasn't sure how to think of this, two people were right there, exclaiming their love for her, yet she wasn't sure of what love meant to herself.

"But, why's it so unfair to me? Why can't I be her lover!?" A few tears dripped from Shirai's eyes.

"I'm really sorry about that, but her entering this relationship was her choice, I couldn't make that decision for her, love has to be a two way street to become a couple." Touma continued to speak softly.

"But...but..." Shirai realized entirely that he was right, and his words made sense, too much sense. She tried to deny it as much as she could, but all his words were true, and her emotions burst through. Tears now streamed down her face as she stood there.

"I'm truly sorry." Touma's words were spoken so softly that they were barely audible. He stepped forward and put his arms around the crying girl.

"Get- get your arms- off of me." Shirai's words stumbled through sobs.

Mikoto felt guilty, Touma had delivered such a powerful speech about love, but she still knew nothing about it. She made a heart with her palms, and stared at it, in some pitiful attempt to come across a realization of what love meant. She exhaled, finding no meaning in her hands.

Touma released Shirai when the crying stopped. "I'll let you two talk about this through the night. I'll be heading off now, see you two later." He waved to the two girls as he walked away slowly.

Shirai turned to Mikoto, wiping off the straggling tears, "While I by no means like it, I guess I'm okay with you dating him, he genuinely cares about you."

Mikoto smiled weakly at Shirai, "Thanks, Kuroko." and hugged her.

"There really is a big difference between a man's hug and a woman's hug, isn't there?" Asked Shirai as the two girls walked back into the dorm.

* * *

_Ah, jeez, that's a lot of writing, and I suppose that's the third chapter, I'm not sure how many chapters I'll make out of this, but if this is supposed to be the first few weeks, I have yet to address a few more months. However, there's a lot of repetitive stuff in real relationships, so I'll probably end up skipping forward a few times. Umm, remember to check out the comic if you really care enough, if not, wait patiently for next chapter, Thanks for the support, everyone! Please review, I thrive off of those._


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I said I'd get back into it, but I kinda didn't, my bad. To be fair though, I've had reasons, my comp crashed, had to get that set up, I've been building a shed in the backyard with my dad, large sucker too, 12 foot by 16 foot with a 1/3 pitch roof that goes up to 12 feet or about 4m x 5.3m x 4m for those who prefer metric. Also, I've been training like crazy for the USAF, 6.2 miles every other day and strength training on the other days. So, I've been busy. But this also brings something else, I'm heading down to the MEPS center on Monday, Oct 15th and officially active duty on the 16th, so this will be the last chapter, and long, too, and it will probably be the last for quite a while, try not to forget me if I come back, Fuji. Umm, so, yeah, let's rock._

* * *

It was now officially the dead middle of winter, Touma hated every bit of it, too. He looked to his right, and Tsuchimikado was in a friggen' short sleeve Hawaiian shirt with shorts, Aogami was a little more sensible, wearing at least a long sleeve hoodie with jeans, Touma was in a scarf, hat, ski jacket, and even went so far as to get thermal underwear.

"I hate winter, It's always too damn cold, you can't swim in the ocean, no girl in her right mind would wear a bikini, you always get sick..." Touma kept going on and on about the things that he hated about winter.

"Dude, just calm down and breath slower, that makes me feel warmer." Tsuchimikado interrupted.

"Shaddup." Touma was not pleased.

"Here, how about we switch topics, you know get your mind off the cold." Aogami tried to help.

"Fine." The spiky haired boy grumbled.

"Ooh! How does your girlfriend look underneath everything?" Tsuchimikado asked.

"Shaddup, no." Touma answered in a weird way.

"'No' as in you're not answering or you haven't seen?" Aogami pressed the matter.

"I think it's the latter of which." Tsuchimikado followed up.

"It's not that important, why would I even care, anyway?" Touma started to get angry.

"Uhh... Because you're a straight male, correct?" Tsuchimikado asked, aiming straight for the vitals with that question.

Come to think of it, Touma really hadn't ever thought of her like that, I mean, even when they were alone in his apartment, they had never done anything of that sort, just watched movies and tv, played games and sometimes just talked. There was that time where Ruiko had pushed Mikoto into Touma, who had put his arms up to grab her, and well... _grabbed _ her. Kuroko lit up, Mikoto got angry, and Touma felt terribly embarrassed. That time was it, all they usually do is kiss and hug, and he was perfectly content with that.

"Hello~, Touma~ Pay attention, man!" Tsuchimikado snapped Touma back to reality.

"Huh, sorry, what?" Touma asked, dumbfounded.

"Jeez, don't take it so seriously man, it was just a joke." Tsuchimikado actually sounded just the slightest bit worried.

The rest of the conversation home was rather eventless, only culminating in a discussion about which curry house was best.

* * *

After taking about ten minutes to undress out of the cold weather gear, Touma sprawled on the bed behind Index, who was sitting on the floor watching her magical girl series. He pulled out his phone and checked a message from Mikoto.

Index looked over and made a pout-y face and asked, "Jeez, all you ever do is talk to that brown haired girl all day now, if you like her so much, why don't you marry her?"

Touma smiled at the small nun, "Maybe someday, Index, I don't know, I hope it will be a Happy Ending."

"Eep!" The little nun let out and thought, 'Oh man, did I just put up the wrong flag, and unlock the bad end for myself?'

Touma looked back at his cell phone display. 'Hey Touma, my school just opened up tickets for the winter ball, would you care to accompany me?'

'Why of course M'lady, I'd gladly escort you, but I'm afraid I lack the funding for the Horse drawn buggy.' Touma replied to Mikoto's text.

'Then I'll have you give me a piggyback ride.' Their quick responses showed just how comfortable they were with each other now.

'Haha, you know I'd do that, right?'

'Yeah... in hindsight, it was kind of reckless giving you that idea.' Mikoto said in realization

'Alright, so when is this winter ball?' Touma asked.

'It's coming up withing a month, I've got a dress all picked out, so you would just need to get a suit or tuxedo, it doesn't matter which.'

'Okay, I guess we should set aside a day for that, then, huh?' Touma replied.

'Yeah, and thanks, for going with me and stuff.' Although her face wasn't there, Touma knew Mikoto well enough that she had to be blushing by now, having typed something like that.

'Well, of course I'd go with you, I love to make you happy.' Touma's next message sent.

'Alright, I've got to go hang out with Kuroko now, so talk to you in a while!' Mikoto sent a polite farewell.

'Yup, yup. Tell her I said hi, or on second thought, for my health, you might not. Hehheh.' Touma broke off the conversation.

Touma sighed and left his arms plop on the bed, he stared up at the ceiling, not sure what to do now. That was the only downside he saw to having a girlfriend, he wished he could have her at his side forever, oh well.

* * *

Mikoto stood outside the movie theater, waiting for someone. However, it wasn't Kuroko like she had told Touma, it was Tsuchimikado.

"Oh, hey, there you are, jeez, you're short." Tsuchimikado poked fun at her.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Why did we have to come here again?" Mikoto asked.

"Well, this movie is new and I want to see it, and you wanted to see me, so I figured, hey, kill two birds with one stone, right?"

"Okay, fine." Mikoto accepted his reasoning, and the two headed inside.

* * *

The next day at school, Touma had already started his day on the wrong foot, someone with coffee bumped into him, and blamed him for it, a dog on a walk decided to take a chomp at his ankle, and the vending machine ate his money. Things quite honestly sucked. He tried looking for a bright spot in this day, but that was rather difficult. At least he had his friends at the end of the day, and even better, a wonderful girlfriend. Aogami stood up and walked over towards him in the down time between periods.

"Dude, how was that movie? I thought it was pretty awesome." He posed the question to Touma.

"Huh? Movie? What are you talking about?" Touma was thoroughly confused.

"Oh, you weren't there? Because I saw Motoharu and Mikoto there, so I figured you'd... uhh." Aogami didn't realize the implications of his words before he said them, he tried to stop, but it was already too late.

"Wait, What?!" Touma's confusion leapt to anger as he made sense of what Aogami said.

"Well, I don't know, either, don't shoot the messenger, bro!" Aogami put his arms up.

Touma put his hand up to his forehead, trying to calm down out of his rage.

Luckily, Tsuchimikado wasn't there that day, otherwise he might have gone through the window and met his end. Apart from the news, the rest of the day was pretty mundane, perhaps god figured Touma had received enough punishment. Upon arrival to his apartment, he didn't even text Mikoto like he usually would.

At about 5pm, his phone's message tone sounded, it was from her.

'Hey, Touma, what's up?' Her message was rather simple.

'Uh, nothing much, I just heard something today that shocked me.' Touma tried to stay as calm as he could.

'Oh yeah? What was it?' Touma wasn't sure if she was trying to play dumb or what.

'Uh, well, it was about you, I heard from someone that you were there with Motoharu, that's all.' Touma denied it as much as possible in his head.

'Oh shit, I'm so sorry, I knew I should have told you! Damn it, why didn't I think to do otherwise?' Mikoto unraveled at the seams. Touma couldn't believe it. He was in such a fury that he couldn't see straight, his hands were trembling, his mouth was just gaping wide open. After about a minute, he calmed enough to move, and picked up his phone and typed his message to her.

'What do you mean? You guys didn't do anything, did you?' He asked, typing on his phone as hard as he could, as though the strength of his keystrokes would add extra meaning.

'No! I swear! I just wanted to talk to him, I mean, you and I haven't done anything, why would I ever want to do something with someone like _him_ when I have you?' The conversation went from zero to 60 in just a short matter of time.

Touma read her text, he felt that it was honest and heartfelt, but he wasn't sure about much now. He even pondered on the thought of whether or not he should end what they had. He decided that Mikoto was important enough to him that he didn't want that outcome, no matter what.

'Why didn't you tell me that, besides, what is it that you couldn't talk to me about?' He pressed this painful conversation forward.

'I'm sorry, you might suspect me of something still, but I have to keep it secret. As for why I couldn't tell you, it falls under that same reason.' Her message came back.

Touma didn't know what to think of it, He wanted to trust her so bad, but he wasn't sure about much of anything, he was so confused, that the direction up was nowhere to be found. But, she's still someone close to him, so, he can't completely abandon her.

'Fine.' Was all his text said, nothing more, nothing less.

'Touma, please just trust me, okay? I know it might be hard, but please.'

Touma didn't want to talk about _that _anymore, and decided to switch the topic.

'When do you want to go get my formalwear?'

"Uh- soon, I suppose. Maybe this coming weekend?' Mikoto answered.

'Okay.' Touma's responses became short.

* * *

The next few days in school for Touma were intensely awkward and aggravating, _He_ was right there in front of Touma, and yet Touma couldn't do anything but shoot angry glares at that bastard. Tsuchimikado felt like there was constantly a dagger pointed at his back and felt an intense aura of anger coming from behind him, so he was always on edge.

Whenever the evenings came, Touma and Mikoto's discussions were always brief, a few not extending past the greetings and asking how the others' day was. Even Index was getting worried, he usually spent hours attached to the hip with that phone or Mikoto herself.

"Touma, are you okay? You seem so indifferent about everything now? Did you have a fight with the brown haired girl?" Index asked.

"You could say something like that." Touma's stare was blank and his voice almost expressionless.

"Well, as much as I don't want to say it, fix things with her! I can't stand to see you like this!" Her words were true, even though she still had a few feelings for the spiky haired boy, seeing him so self-destructive was just depressing.

"Yeah, maybe." Touma pondered on Index's words, maybe she was right, he figured he'd try to be happier when he went out to the formal wear store with her.

Soon enough, the weekend came and they would have to meet up. He waited on the corner until he saw her figure approaching slowly

"Remember, be happy." He exhaled as he quietly muttered to himself.

"Hey..." She said in a down sort of tone

"Hey." His tone was brighter, almost back to his loving tone.

"Huh?" She was slightly confused at this.

"Uh, you see, Index said something to me earlier this week; about how sad I looked, and it kind of sank in, and I realized, I can't stay mad at you, I love you too much for that." Touma said, scratching the back of his head.

Mikoto almost knocked Touma down she hugged him so hard. "I'm so sorry, I still can't tell you about that, but please trust me..."

"It's okay." He said, stroking her hair with one hand and embracing her with the other.

Even though it was only supposed to be a simple trip to get Touma some formal wear, it ended up being a lot of fun. They were definitely back to being on speaking terms. Touma had even managed to sneak a few kisses in every now and again when nobody was looking. He figured it was best to live without being angry at her.

"I missed this feeling." Touma said with a warm smile during one of their embraces.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one." Mikoto said, relieved.

* * *

The days passed by smoothly until the winter ball, Touma was still on edge about Motoharu, but he didn't feel ready to kill him like earlier, so that's a start. The weekends were back to how they were, Mikoto and Touma became aware how much they needed each other to be happy. The dates came often, and were always fun, no matter how boring the activity should have been, even rewatching a movie was fun for the couple.

The night of the winter ball came, Touma was nervous as could be. He had never been to an event like this, let alone with a girl. He paced around far more than necessary and texted Mikoto questions about little things that she barely knew about herself.

He stood in front of the mirror perfecting his tie, adjusting it for several minutes at a time, only to undo it soon after and restart the process.

The little things that normally never phased the young man suddenly became national emergency level to him. He just wanted everything about this to be perfect, if not for the two of them, then for her for sure. Touma constantly ran back and forth checking the time on his phone, to make sure he would leave on time. As the minutes drew nearer, his pulse heightened. His hands were shaking again, but it wasn't like last time. He was happy this time. The little digital number on his phone switched to the appointed time, and he summoned his courage and walked out the door.

The walk to her dorm was a bit awkward at first, but once he saw a few more people in dress outfits, he felt a little more comfortable. Special permissions were granted by the staff to let guys come and pick up their dates from the dorm, Touma navigated the halls to the room number Mikoto had given him.

"Well, here we go." He whispered quietly. **Knock! Knock! Knock!**

Mikoto wasted no time in becoming flustered, her face was already flushed just from the thought of the night. She looked to Kuroko, who gave a simple thumbs up and rushed her to the door.

The door opened to reveal a cute girl, who had her brown hair tied up in a ponytail, with two small locks up front, and was wearing a light blue dress that matched his tie and vest. Touma wasn't sure about what to say, he doesn't normally see anything so beautiful.

"Stop staring so much, idiot." She said in a trademark tsundere fashion.

"Ah, sorry." Touma looked away, blushing as well.

"Well, shall we get going, then?" She asked

"Nah, I thought we'd just stand right here for the night."Touma said, fooling around.

He felt a sharp pain coming from his ribs, and looked to see that Mikoto's elbow was planted right there.

"Haha, jeez, you don't have to take it so seriously." He coughed.

They chatted casually along the way to the restaurant they had reservations at. When they arrived, Touma wasn't sure how even Mikoto could afford this place, it had large ceilings, ice sculptures, grand chandeliers, the works. He looked around at this place and felt guilty that she was going to pay for them, considering how the suit alone drained his savings.

The couple sat down, after getting their drinks, they had some pleasant conversations, and Touma couldn't help but smile at her.

"Hey Touma, I think we should talk about _that_." Mikoto switched the conversation's track.

Touma knew exactly what she meant when she said "that". He couldn't help but think for the worst considering his misfortune. He didn't want it to end like this, but he figured he'd at least hear her out. "Ah, okay."

"Well, I can finally tell you about that night." Mikoto continued.

"Yes?"

"Well, I had Motoharu do some digging on your past, for info about you and such, like your birthday."

At that moment he heard many footsteps coming in the door to the restaurant. The voices attached to the footsteps were all familiar and singing. He turned around to see, and when he turned back, Mikoto was right there near his face.

"Happy Birthday." She said softly before kissing him.

"Oh my god." were the first words out of his mouth once they separated. Although he didn't ever remember having one of these things done at a restaurant, he knew he hated it already, it made too much of a scene.

"Hey bro, I'm sorry we had to put you through that, hope you still don't want to kill me." Tsuchimikado said, patting Touma on the back.

"I'm not going to kill you for that, but for this whole shenanigan, I might have to again." Touma joked around.

Index came and set a cake down in between the couple. "A few of us girls baked this for you. Try to save some so that I can eat it later!"

Many people came by to give him birthday wishes, even people who didn't seem like the type, including Stiyl, Accelerator, and even a good number of the clones, everybody saying it in quite honestly socially awkward ways. After everyone went through saying their greetings, Touma turned to Mikoto, whose chair had been dragged next to Touma's for when extra tables were brought in to seat everybody.

"I hate you so much, but I love you even more." He said putting his arm around her.

"Jeez, you're such a tsundere." She joked around.

Motoharu beckoned Index over to his seat. "Tonight, try to find somewhere to spend the night, okay?"

Dinner came to an end fairly quickly a few people had to pick up and leave early due to personal reasons, but many people stayed for a bit to chat, Touma and Mikoto waved goodbye to the group as they made their retreat to the winter ball. Before the couple could get out of the door, Motoharu handed Touma something in a small plastic package.

"In case you need it."

Touma and Mikoto walked out a bit. "What was it?" Mikoto asked.

"I don't know." Touma commented, even though he quite obviously knew what it was.

In comparison to dinner, the dance was rather boring, there was a bit of punch in the corner, and a few candies in dishes near the punch. Touma looked around, but there really wasn't much for him to do, he knew nothing about how to dance, and the people here were Mikoto's friends, but he enjoyed being in her company, at least.

After a few hours, the amount of people began to thin, and even Mikoto was starting to get bored, no matter how funny it was watching Touma awkwardly try to dance.

"Everybody, we'll have to call this dance over short, the snow outside is starting to get close to blizzard conditions, and we don't want you to walk home in that, so have a nice evening and stay safe!" A PSA came over the loudspeakers.

"Oh, thank god. I didn't know or really like any of those songs." Touma stated.

"Haha, are you ready to get out of here, too?" Mikoto Asked.

"A tad bit." Touma responded, with a hint of sarcasm. With that said, the couple made for the door, and with a touch of haste.

"So what do you want to do tonight?" Touma asked.

"I don't know, do you have anything planned?" Mikoto returned fire with another question.

"Other than hanging out with you, no."

"Well, I want to beat your high score on that game, the one we played last time." Mikoto gave a suggestion.

"Okay, sounds good, besides, my apartment is closer to here, anyway." Touma liked that suggestion. "Let's just hurry up and get out of the damn cold." He added.

The snow was coming down just as hard as the DJ said it would be. Touma's door had to be forced open due to the snow piling up in front of it.

"Jeez, you know how bad it is when the wind blown snow piles up under the awning." Touma said, taking off his suit coat.

"At least we're finally inside." Mikoto followed up, taking off a jacket she had brought along.

"Uh, do you want something to change into, dress clothes aren't the most comfortable." Touma asked sheepishly.

"If you're insisting on making this like every cheesy romance manga out there, sure." She said with a smile across her face.

"When you put it like that..." Touma saw what she meant. But still passed her a T shirt and led her to the shower.

After a few minutes she came out, wearing his T shirt and her trademark shorts. "Why do they make guys' clothing infinitely more comfy than girls'?"

"I dunno." He was freshly changed as well, wearing a shirt and jeans.

"Alright, let's get cracking!" Mikoto said, stretching her hands out before picking up the controller.

About half an hour and a few retries later, Mikoto was getting so close to his high score. She had her everything set on it.

The lights shut off. Mikoto stared at a blank screen, and only expletives came out of her mouth.

"What's going on!? Why did the power shut off?" Mikoto asked frantically.

Touma opened the window to find the power cables snapped, and a yellow haired figure running away. "Well, there's your problem." He said pointing at the dangling power cable. "The weight of the snow must have snapped it."

"Ugh, well what do you want to do now?" Asked Mikoto.

"I'm not terribly sure, how about you?" He turned the question back on her while lighting a candle so they could see.

"I don't know, I'm pretty tired, and we can't do much entertainment wise, should we catch some sleep?"

"Uh, sure, you can take the bed, I'll go grab the futon from the closet." Touma explained.

"Um... You'll get cold or sick down there, and we have no heating anymore... so we can share your bed." Mikoto said, obviously nervous.

"Oh my, how bold!" Touma said with a smirk on his face.

"Shut up! Do you want to or not?" Her Tsundere tendencies were showing.

"Okay, okay." Touma gave in.

He climbed in next to her. The bed was pretty small, so they were pressed tight together. Mikoto turned to face Touma, and kissed him.

"Good night, Touma."

"Ah-... um..." He paused to clear his throat. "We don't have to sleep yet." Both of them were blushing furiously. "Or we could go to bed." He tried to pick up what he thought were the broken, awkward pieces.

"Um, ok, I really wasn't too terribly tired." Her face was practically glowing red. Touma could nearly use it as a light.

The sun came up and woke Touma up, and Mikoto was still in his arms, It wasn't a dream after all. He accidentally nudged her trying to check the time.

"Huh...? Oh, Hey, Touma, how are you?" She asked groggily.

"Good, good, especially after everything yesterday." He answered her.

"That's good." She said, only barely awake.

"Hey Mikoto?" He began.

"Yesh?" she managed through a yawn.

"I want you to stay with me longer." He finished his statement.

"Well, there's still snow everywhere, so I think I can manage that."

"What about when the snow has melted?"

"Well, then it will start to be rainy, and I don't want to get soaked, so I guess so."

"Ok." Touma finished the conversation, and they resumed sleeping.

* * *

_Alright errybody, I hope that will keep you happy, I kind of wished I had that ending, but it's all cool, it's just a learning experience. I was actually lucky enough to have my birthday line up on prom, and I had some fun. Thanks to everybody again, especially Fuji, and the other reviewers, now I've got to go pack for BMT. Thanks and see you later, space cowboy._


End file.
